Getting No Boot and 1 beep

Hi!

Everything was running beautifully. I just installed 4940MX, 16GB DDR3L 2130, Nvidia 980M and EVO 860 Pro 1TB.

I had the 980M showing in Device Manager. Then the screen went blank.

I restarted the machine and now I get one beep when I try to restart.

Any advice would be most appreciated. Is something overheating?

 

In my encounters with dead/dying Alienware 18's, one beep usually means system board failure of some sort. Could be physical or BIOS issues but usually it's physical.

What were you doing when it suddenly borked out?

980m(s) and extreme chips will reveal a weak Alienware 18 system board sooner than later.

 

@electrosoft I was looking at modifying the RAM speed in Taiphoon Burner.

UPDATE: After repeated attempts to restart, it booted up. I've switched to the integrated graphics and its running again but not on the 980M.

One thing I did not do was modify the stock GPU heatsink (came with 770Ms) to accommodate the (980M). Could that be causing the issue? What happens is: it runs fine then freezes on a solid colored screen kind of a translucent blue or sometimes pink. I don't need to be doing anything intensive. It just seems to be a matter of time before this happens.

 

1 beep is usually a motherboard issue and also covers BIOS corruption and ROM. Is your system BIOS up to date? The 18 was released with the 980M at the end of it's life so your card should be supported just as long as you have one of the latest BIOS'. Maybe test with slower speed memory first just to rule that out.
The 980M shouldn't heat up to a point of causing an issue just during regular use.

 

G'day @Maxware79 Thank you for your reply. That is good to know that this one had the 980M and explains why the Windows Update auto-installed a working driver! I have an older bios A12 and I see the latest is from November 2019 (A15).

Should that make a difference? I'll give it a try if so.

 

It's hard to know but it does sound like a BIOS issue with the 1-beep. If it was a motherboard fault then I doubt the machine would boot at all. If it auto-installed your driver then it sounds like the BIOS is high enough to support the card.
What driver version did it auto-install?

 

@Maxware79 Thanks. I actually have A13 but am thinking I will flash to A15 just in case.

It installed NVIDIA Graphics Driver 389.12.

What do you think? FYI, the machine runs perfectly on integrated graphics. No problems at all.

 

The 770m heatsink is a miss for two reasons:

1. It only dissipates 75w vs 100w design of the 780m/880m & 980m models
2. The 980m heatsink is slightly modified to fit the 980m properly

Here is the proper part (or you can mod a 780m/880m heatsink):

Left: https://www.parts-people.com/index.php?action=item&id=21461

Right: https://www.parts-people.com/index.php?action=item&id=21460

Check this thread for more details:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/step-by-step-980m-install-in-alienware-18.768916/

BIOS A12+ supports 980m's just fine.

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If you're able to at least boot but then the 980m gives up the ghost and you have to switch to IG, it could be your system board and a power draw issue or the improperly fitted 980m or the 980m itself.

Swap back to a single 770m and see if the problem(s) persist.


You just did so many upgrades at the same time that it makes it more difficult to see what triggered what.

I would have started with the CPU upgrade and dialed that in and let it run for a few days for stability.

Then I would have moved to the memory, dialed that in for stability (especially using thaipoon)

Then finally I would have narrow focused on the 980m upgrade knowing everything else was locked in and stable.

 

Try installing the latest driver and see if it works. It's strange that it installed such an old driver. I'd be interested to see if the latest driver installs without modding.

 

I too have the AW18 4940MX CPU and also a Nvidia GTX 980M; I believe the 389.12 driver is an exclusive proprietory driver. After a Windows update, the driver I had before wasn't working properly; somehow, and I'm not really sure how, I'm thinking Alienware Assistant installed the 389.12 driver. With that driver, everything is working flawlessly. (When I made attempts to find out about this driver, searches of it turned up nothing; needless to say, I was amazed that it "literally" fixed itself.)

For some reason, I've always had a temperature issue with this 980M; I finally thought I would try an external fan and so at a suggestion, I applied an Opolar fan to the left rear vent (vent the side that the power button is on) as this sucks air out. That's worked absolute wonders; I now have no heat issues as temperature dropped at least 10-15 degrees depending on what is being done with the laptop. Like as you were doing, DoubleHelixx, I would use the FN+F5 button and switch to the IGPU; I no longer have to do this. I've also explained using this Opolar in another comment I made in NBR. Hope this helps you in some way. Btw, I've had my AW18 for over 2 years now.

 

@Chivalrous Roamin Knight Thanks for that information. Do you have the 980M 100W heatsink?

@electrosoft The machine is running without issue on Integrated Graphics. With that in mind, is it still worth switching back to the 770M? I had it running previously on SLI 770Ms and never had any problem.

I didn't realize the 770M heatsink was a lower temp rated sink. I'm thinking that's likely the issue.

 

I'm not reall sure what heatsink it has, I could only assume it's what it originally came with. But yeah, the Opolar fan is fairly cheap;I'm so impressed with it, I bought another one just as a backup to use.

 

Switching back temporarily will partially rule out a bad or failing mxm slot or system board. If it runs fine on the 770m, you can narrow it down a bit.

if @Chivalrous Roamin Knight ordered his with a 980m from dell it has the proper heat sink. A 780m or 880m Heat sink even will help immensely.

parts people have two of the proper part left in stock and they tend to dry up for prolonged periods of time when they go out of stock.

 

Thanks @electrosoft. I ordered the part. Much appreciated. Will keep you posted.

@Chivalrous Roamin Knight Thanks. Will def. keep it mind. Which size did you go with for the AW18?

 

@Chivalrous Roamin Knight Thanks. Will def. keep it mind. Which size did you go with for the AW18?
Hope you are meaning the Opolar model size; it is this: OPOLAR LC-06-Laptop Fan Cooler, laptop fan cooler with temperature display and 13 speeds (2600-5000 RPM's). A word about these: They are to have an auto feature function that senses the temperature and then operates the fan accordingly; my 1st one I had, didn't do that or maybe lost that function. However, they have a manual function that allows the user to choose the fan speed; this served even more than adequate as I would just use the manual option to run the fan at a desired speed. Again, I was am still am so so impressed at the efficient cooling it does, I felt it wise to get another one as a backup; when I received this one, I immediately put it to the test of the auto function and it worked as it said it intended to and I've been monitoring it's performance from day to day. Even after 10 weeks of everyday use, it's auto function is performing flawlessly. Btw, I bought them both from Amazon. I swear by these coolers!

 

Can you provide info on here where it got the 389.12 driver; another recently posted thread in NBR just happened today and I'm trying to help this poster with this obscure Nvidia 389.12 driver. Thanks!!

Well, I bought this AW18 with dual SLI 980Ms an Alienware laptop reseller in New Jersey they installed, so I'm assuming they are the correct heat sinks.